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5 Installing Tiny Core Linux

Mathew J. Heath Van Horn, PhD

Tiny Core Linux is a very lightweight operating system (OS) that is easily configurable to meet a wide variety of needs. Unlike other OSs that require gigabytes (GB) of hard drive space and RAM, Tiny Core Linux requires less than 250 megabytes (MB) of hard drive space and only 23 MB of RAM. This makes it uniquely suited for us to use in this textbook to emulate an enterprise network architecture.

Tiny Core Linux uses a lot of command line interface (CLI) commands, so please pay attention to detail when following these instructions.

Learning Objectives

  • Install Tiny Core Linux in VirtualBox
  • Add Tiny Core Linux to the GNS3 appliance repository

Prerequisites

Deliverables

  • None – this is a preparatory lab for other labs

Resources

  • Tiny Core Linux Main Website – http://tinycorelinux.net/

Contributors and Testers

  • Enzo Gonzalez

Tiny Core Linux is very lightweight. It primarily runs in RAM to increase its operating speed.

Photo of Tiny Core Linux running on VirtualBox
Figure 0.5 – Tiny Core Linux running in VirtualBox
  1. Download the Tiny Core Linux  iso file named “CorePlus” from http://tinycorelinux.net/downloads.html

    Note: iso is used as a nickname for an optical disk image adhering to the ISO 9660 file system.

  2. The file is so small it isn’t zipped
  3. Open the Oracle VirtualBox Manager and click on New
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 1 – Create a new VM
  4. Complete the VM form
    1. Choose a name – In this lab, we called it “TinyCoreLinux”
    2. Use the ISO dropdown menu to select the CorePlus-current.iso you downloaded in Step 1
    3. Use the Type drop-down menu to choose Linux
    4. Use the Version drop-down menu to choose Other Linux (64-bit)
    5. Press Next

      Screenshot of commands
      Figure 2 – Completing the VirtualBox VM form
  5. Decrease the Base Memory to 256 MB and press Next
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 3 – decrease the memory to 256MB
  6. Decrease the Virtual Hard Disk to 500 MB and press Next

    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 4 – Decrease the Virtual Hard Disk to 500 MB
  7. At the summary screen, press Finish
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 5 – Finish the VM changes
  8. Start the TinyCoreLinux VM

    NOTE: Some testers had to explicitly tell the VM to capture their mouse commands. To do this, navigate to the VM menu at the top of the VM window and under Input open the drop-down menu and select Mouse Integration

     

    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 6 – Mouse integration in VirtualBox VMs

    NOTE: Remember – to release the mouse from a VirtualBox VM – press the right-side ctrl key

  9. Use the arrow keys to select Boot Core with X/GUI (TinyCore) + Installation Extension 
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 7 – First time boot instructions for TinyCore Linux
  10. Press enter to start the boot process in this mode
  11. Once it starts (takes a few seconds), you will see the main screen. At the bottom of the screen, you can hover your mouse over the icons and right-click the Install icon
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 8 – Install TinyCore Linux
  12. Manage the settings in the Tiny Core Installation menu
    1. Select Whole Disk
    2. Highlight sda as the disk
    3. Select Install boot loader
    4. Press the right arrow at the bottom of the settings to go to the next menu
      Screenshot of commands
      Figure 9 – Managing the settings in TinyCore installation menu
  13. Leave the formatting options at their default and press the right arrow
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 10 – Leave the formatting options alone
  14. In the boot options reference list, type the following in the blank field at the bottom

    home=sda1 opt=sda1

     

    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 11 – Set the home and optional drives to use by default
  15. Press the right arrow
  16. On the Install Type menu, leave the defaults and press the right arrow
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 12 – Leave the install type defaults
  17. Review the installation information and press Proceed
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 13 – Review the installation information before proceeding
  18. When the installation has finished
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 14 – Installation indicates finished

    , shut down the VM

    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 15 – Shut down the VM from within the VM
  19. Return to the VM VirtualBox manager and adjust the settings for the TinyCoreLinux VM by clicking on settings

    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 16 – Configuring the VM again
  20. In settings, navigate to Storage, right-click the iso, and click Remove Attachment 
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 17 – Remove the booting iso image

    This forces the VM to boot from the virtual hard disk instead of the iso

  21. Click OK
  22. Start the TinyCoreLinux VM to ensure it boots from the virtual hard drive. Notice that the Install icon no longer appears
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 18 – The install icon no longer appears which means it is booting from the virtual drive instead of the iso

Phase II – Creating persistance in Tiny Core Linux

Tiny Core Linux discards all changes made when it shuts down. This is great for getting a fresh start, but can be a pain when we want to keep something. To persistently save material when the VM shuts down, we need to use the backup feature. In this section, we will create a test file and use the backup feature to keep the information.

  1. Start the TinyCore Linux or resume from the install
  2. On the main page, click on the third icon Control Panel 
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 19 – Configure the TinyCore VM for persistence
  3. Under the maintenance section, click Backup/Restore and another window will open. Click on Included for Backup (.filetool.lst) and you can see which directories and files are saved automatically on shutdown with backup
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 20 – Changing the backup/restore settings
  4. According to this information, files saved in the opt and home directories will be backed up
  5. Close the windows
  6. Open a blank text file by clicking on the editor icon 
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 21 – Open a blank text file
  7. Type in anything in the textbox and then use the mouse to select File –> Save File As… 
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 22 – Type anything and save the document
  8. In the File Save As window, leave the default settings and add the file name test.txt, and click ok 
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 23 – Save the text file
  9. Now click on the Exit icon at the bottom, and on the exit options, select Reboot and backup options Backup and then press ok 
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 24 – Reboot and Backup
  10. After the VM restarts, open the editor again, and this time click File –> Open File. In the new window, you should see the file you saved earlier
    Screenshot of commands
    Figure 25 – Checking to see if the file was retained after reboot
  11. You can open it again if you want, but seeing it listed is good enough to know that data persistence via backup is working

 

Phase III – Adding the TC VM to GNS3

You will want to add this lightweight VM to your GNS3. It is a little more robust than the VPCS that comes with GNS3.

  1. Follow the directions in Chapter 6 for adding any virtual machine to GNS3.
End of Lab
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Figure 00 – Contact us via prmaster@erau.edu

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Mastering Enterprise Networks 2e Copyright © 2024 by Mathew J. Heath Van Horn is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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